Away From The Well
by KikyouCommitsSuicide
Summary: Kagome's family was out one day, and got in a serious accident, so she has to go to boarding school in America, since there's no one else to go to. There's not much romance in the beginning... And I just raised the rating - just to be safe. ;)
1. Part One

Away From The Well  
  
Chapter One  
  
by KikyouCommitsSuicide  
  
Disclaimer: This is a weird creation cooked up by my twisted mind. Read on at your own risk. Anyone who mysteriously becomes insane, well, it was probably this story. But you've been warned and I will not claim any responsibility.  
  
...Uh, just a minute, minna. Rin runs onstage and whispers into KCS's ear  
  
Ohhhh, THAT disclaimer. Um, how can I say this? Oh, yes. I do not own Inuyasha. If you didn't understand the previous statement, I strongly suggest therapy. Or learning the English language, but therapy's more fun!   
  
Author's note: I know, the disclaimer was a bit much. But hey! I'm on a sugar/caffeine high! And it's four in the morning! I really love the dark dusky hours of early morning because everyone's asleep and the sun's just beginning to rise above the mountainous horizon (I live on a mountain in New England by the way). It's really very pretty. Plus, I can prance around in my driveway and NO ONE WILL SEE OR CARE!!! YAY!!!  
  
Ahem. No more Tootsie Rolls for me. Or coffee. Or lollipops. Or bagels. Or those cool little squeeze pops that have frozen juice in them... yeah. Onwards with the fic!!  
  
"Words and stuff" - talking  
  
'Words and stuff' - thinking  
  
------------  
  
"Oh, it's almost my birthday! I can't wait!" Kagome said excitedly to Sango, splashing her a bit from fidgeting. "Hey, Sango, you've never told me about your birthday and I've known you for almost a year. When IS it??"  
  
"Well, I don't really know. Birthdays weren't very important to people in my village. We did have one day of the year to simply relax and play games and eat sweets. I suppose that's the equivalent to the way you celebrate birthdays in your time," Sango replied. "But I am kind of curious about this. Can... can I say my birthday is the same as yours?"  
  
"Of course! I'm pretty sure we're about the same age anyway," Kagome replied. She couldn't really believe that Sango's people just forgot when they were born. "Were you born in the winter or the summer?" She asked.  
  
"I really don't remember. I suppose my mother would, but she's..."  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up... But it'll be really fun! We can make Inuyasha and Miroku be our servants for a day!" That really cheered Sango up.  
  
"Okay. You can have Inuyasha," she smiled knowingly at her friend.  
  
"Um... okay then."  
  
Sango couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her best friend was very fun to be around, but she was so slow when it came to love. And Inuyasha, of course, was even slower.  
  
Miroku gasped theatrically. He KNEW that his Sango loved him back! And here was proof! She wanted him to be her slave! Hmmmm.... Uh oh. When he gasped, he had drawn back dramatically, and so had lost his balance on his tree branch. Immediately, he scrambled to regain equilibrium, but it was too late. "AHHHHHHHHH!"  
  
Sango heard his yell. "HENTAI!!" She yelled, and found a few rocks to pitch at his head. They all found their mark, and she grinned in satisfaction. That should teach him to spy on them. Except he should have been taught many times ago, but he didn't seem to learn. Maybe monks were just very thick-skulled.  
  
"Oh, my," said a fully-clothed Kagome. As much as she liked her friend the houshi, she wasn't taking any chances. "It's a good thing he's got a thick head, otherwise he'd be dead."  
  
"Yeah. I guess perverts have a very high tolerance for pain and suffering. Good thing for the rest of us." And with that, Sango set off for the campsite.  
  
Kagome shook her head, gathered her stuff up, and began to drag Miroku back. Everyone always wondered how he got back from Sango's rock beatings, including Miroku, since he was always out cold. No one even considered that someone might've brought him back. He was her friend; what else would she do?  
  
Back at the campsite, apparently Sango had told Inuyasha what he was to do on Kagome's birthday. "NO WAY IN HELL AM I DOIN THAT!!!" He yelled at her.  
  
"Oh, yes you are. Unless you'd like to meet Hiraikotsu. Close-up and personal."  
  
"Is that a threat?"  
  
"I believe it is. Now get your sorry butt down out of that tree cause we're moving out!"  
  
"Sango?" Kagome said timidly. Her friend was now in kick-ass mode, and right now, she wanted to stay intact - if only for the promise of presents later.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm going home. I have a test. ...Again. Our birthday is going to be tomorrow, okay? Make sure they have presents for us!"  
  
"Okay! Bye!"  
  
------------  
  
When Kagome got home, no one was there, and the car was gone. 'Probably out to buy me presents,' Kagome thought happily and started to study her Science textbook for the upcoming test.  
  
After she was pretty sure she had Chapter 7 down, she looked out her window at the stars. They were especially clear tonight. She could even make out a couple of the constellations that her grandfather told her about that she could never see in the heavens before. ...Grandpa?  
  
'Wait...' she thought. 'Where is everyone? I got home at, like, four in the afternoon! They can't have been shopping this long!' Feeling anxious, she went downstairs and called her mother's new cell phone. No one answered.  
  
'This isn't right,' Kagome thought nervously. 'She leaves her cell phone on all day and keeps it with her in case something happens. What's going on??'  
  
Suddenly the phone rang, interrupting her pondering.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Yes, this is Fukawa Akino. I'm from the local police. Who is this?"  
  
"Higurashi Kagome."  
  
"Higurashi-san, your grandfather, mother and brother were in a car accident. I'm afraid they're at the hospital now, in critical condition. The doctors say that there is a very slim chance of them pulling through."  
  
Kagome just hung up, her eyes wide and non-blinking. This couldn't be happening. Her family was on the brink of death and she had been ditching them while they had been in the crash.  
  
Still in denial, she walked up to her bed and fell asleep after staring at the ceiling for a few hours.  
  
----------  
  
She woke up to Inuyasha sitting on the floor, watching her.  
  
"AAAGGHHH!" She screamed, jumping from shock. "What the hell, Inuyasha?!"  
  
"It's your birthday. And I'm supposed to do whatever you tell me to, remember?" He said in a monotone.  
  
"Oh yeah. Um, can you go in the kitchen or something?"  
  
"I have to," he grumbled, standing up and walking out of her room.  
  
Still breathing hard, she got dressed, then remembered what happened. Her shoulders sagged and she got back in bed. Ten minutes later, Inuyasha came back in.  
  
"What are you doing?" He asked, looking curiously at her and wondering why she was not getting out of bed. "The sun's been up for a long time now. Why are you still sleeping? And where's your family? Your mom's usually tried to touch my ears about ten times by now."  
  
At this, Kagome burst out sobbing. "Ack! Why are you crying? Please don't cry!" Inuyasha said, going to the side of her bed. "What's wrong?" He asked innocently, wiping a tear.  
  
"They're dying," she managed to say. "And it's my fault."  
  
Inuyasha just looked at the girl next to him who was crying piteously, but this time, he couldn't tell her to stop, that he'd protect her. Damn. He'd forgotten about emotional injuries...  
  
So, not knowing what else to do, he hugged her. At first, she stiffened, but then melted into his embrace, actually clinging to him.  
  
Inuyasha, of course, had no idea what to do now. His idea was to get her mad, so she'd sit him, and seeing him on the ground glaring at her was supposed to make her happy. It did every other time. He winced mentally. She'd probably kiss him back if he kissed her - that's how strained she was. So, the only thing left to do to get him sat was... well... to take a leaf from a certain bouzu's book.  
  
Kagome stiffened. "HENTAI!! Sit!!!" She yelled at him. For some reason, he had been leaning over the edge of the bed, so his face met the floor and he sort of balanced on his head for about a second, then toppled over. Despite her misery, it was still hilarious to see the usually well-coordinated hanyou toppling onto the floor. She couldn't help herself; she burst into laughter.  
  
Seeing her cheer was (at least momentarily) back, Inuyasha managed a gruff smile. "So what're we gonna do now?" He asked.  
  
"Well... we??"  
  
"Well, whaddya 'spect me to do, just leave you here?" He asked. When he put it that way...  
  
"Fine. But if you're gonna stay here for a while, then you need to get some clothes..."  
  
"HEY! What's wrong with these?!"  
  
"They're unfashionable."  
  
"WHAT?!?!"  
  
An hour later, a disgruntled hanyou had a small fortune's worth of clothes from the future.  
  
"Who's paying for this?" He asked her at one point.  
  
"You. Who else?"  
  
"WHAAA - Okay, we're stopping RIGHT NOW."  
  
------------  
  
"How exactly am I supposed to pay for this?!"  
  
"Your father was rich! Didn't you at least get some of the fortune?"  
  
"I got Tetsusaiga. That's MORE than my share."  
  
"So Sesshoumaru has the title, the power, AND the treasure?! Are you insane?"  
  
"Just drop it."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
------------  
  
As soon as they got back to the shrine, the phone rang. When Kagome froze, Inyasha answered it.  
  
"Hello? Um... yeah. Okay. Will do. Bye."  
  
"How do you know how to answer a phone?"  
  
"Because I tried to kill it when it rang and your mother taught me how to use it."  
  
"Oh... what was it about?"  
  
"Well, this lady named Akino asked me if I was your boyfriend, and I didn't really know what that was, so I just said 'yeah'. Then she told me to tell you that your family's in a coh-mah, and that you'll be going to Bored School in New Yerk. What does all this mean??"  
  
"Well, a boyfriend is a guy friend, and my family's in a coma, which means..." She gulped. "Like a deep sleep that they probably will not wake up from, and I think you mean boarding school. That's like... school but you stay there all the time - they feed you and you sleep in a bed in the building. And New York is a place... halfway around the world."  
  
"...Oh." Inuyasha didn't really get any of this. "So can I come to Bored School with you?"  
  
"Well, it costs money..."  
  
Inuyasha nodded. "I'll be back," he told her, and ran to the well.  
  
------------  
  
'I gotta find Sesshoumaru. Maybe he'll understand if I tell him that it's Kagome... no, he wouldn't understand. He's been a loner all his life. Guess I'll just have to blackmail him again..."  
  
------------  
  
'Hmmm... I wonder where Inuyasha is. I hope he comes back soon - they usually get people there as early as possible when it comes to these pushy American schools...'  
  
------------  
  
Yay! The first chapter of my first continuing fic! Does little victory dance  
  
Please review! Because I love you guys so much! ...Even though we haven't met... like, ever...  
  
Anyway, after that sugar high (which is over by the way - I'm actually finishing this two hours after I decided to jump around my brother's room and wake him up - he's about 1 1/2 years old - really cute!! But annoying...) I'm feeling depressed. At my writing skills. I just had to turn a cute little fluffy moment into a 'pretend Inu hentai' one. Yup. I show no promise whatsoever in the field of romance. But for you, dearest readers, I shall try.  
  
Oh, and that comment about American schools - don't get me wrong, I love the educational system here. And I'm a big patriot. But does everyone actually like school? No, of course not! So can you blame me for a little jab at my country? No (of course not)!!  
  
Ja ne! 


	2. Part Two

Away From The Well

Chapter Two

by KikyouCommitsSuicide

Disclaimer:

Dis - Not

Claim - Saying that something is yours

You do the math.

Author's note: Yay! My first continuing fic... uh... continues! For someone who scored close to perfect on the Connecticut Mastery Tests, I sure have a limited and uninspiring vocab.

------------

Inuyasha was standing in front of his brother's rather large residence. He was, after all, the Lord of the Western Lands. But how come Inuyasha got a tree and Sesshoumaru got a gargantuan, expensive-looking palace? And the Tensaiga? And the money? And the respect? And the power? And, most importantly, the LOOKS? Some guys just had it made. And this wasn't just a cliche. Sesshoumaru really did.

He strode into his ancestral home that he was kicked out of because his brother decided to live there. The gates, however, satisfactorily recognized his blood and let him through. He knew that Sesshoumaru had tried to get different gates that wouldn't like his brother, but such a smith was impossible to find - they were all dead by now, either killed by unhappy clients or of old age.

"Sesshoumaru, I want to speak with you," Inuyasha said dangerously. His youkai brother wanted respect from his servants, and no gossip, but that would only happen if he deserved it. So, his brother never did anything too incriminating in his own home.

Usually.

"Hey, Sesshy-chan (a/n: Inu does whatever he can to provoke his brother when he can. Evil little dog, ain't he?). I just came to ask you for some money. Since I have none, and all."

"This is the THIRD time you've come asking for money, Inuyasha," his brother said impatiently (for him, anyway), his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Well, if I had any of my inheritance, I wouldn't need money. And think about it. I've only needed money three times in my life. Impressive, ne?"

"Indeed. So what do you need it for?"

"Why're you askin'?"

"Always know what you're investing in, dear brother," he was answered. He noticed that Sess hesitated a little and clenched his fists under the table before he said the phrase, 'dear brother'. His face, though, was as stoic as ever.

"That's a nice little tip, there, Sess-chan, I'll be sure to tell you if I ever need it," he replied, as cocky as he could be. These times in his brother's house were priceless. "Hey, speaking of business, there is a little that you probably don't want the whole world to know... you know, something like... hickies?!"

Oh, how he hated his brother. It wasn't very commonly known that when his father was alive, Sesshoumaru had been quite the rebellious child - he even got a permanent hickie from one of his former servants. It was now so small and faded that he could pass it off as a battle scar, but if anyone knew about it, it would totally and completely ruin his reputation. "I despise you," he said poisonously before giving him a tiny bag. "Will this do?"

Inuyasha examined the contents. It was a very well-crafted pearl necklace with a gold chain. "It will do nicely. Thank you." Sesshoumaru just glowered, and he decided that he had overstayed his welcome. "I must be going. Good-bye."

With that, Inuyasha walked composedly out of his brothers home, but when he had passed the gates and made sure he was out of sight, he jumped onto a tree, where he really was much more at home than the dirty ground, and started on the way back to the well.

------------

Kagome was packing her clothes when the phone rang again. Kami, she was really wanting to smash it into dozens of little pieces by now. That thing had become her worst enemy in two little calls.

"Hai?"

"Is this Higurashi Kagome?"

"Hai. May I ask who is calling?"

"This is the boarding school you were enrolled in by your mother's wishes. We have provided two plane tickets for you out of Tokyo's airport. Please be packed and such by then. Goodbye."

And then they just hung up, forgetting to tell her why they had given her two tickets. Rather rude, but they got their point across. Unfortunately. Kagome just hoped that Inuyasha would be back soon. She wanted to go to Sengoku Jidai and just disappear.

But wouldn't the people, mainly the boarding school, which hadn't even given it's name, wonder where she was? And they went down the well to look for her? Surely she couldn't be the only one in her time who could time-travel. What if they went through? And found out her secret? No, she couldn't take that chance. She'd just have to go to New York and live there until she turned eighteen and got enough money to go home. Then she could disappear.

The thought of a future that might not hold her dearest friends made her cheeks become wet with tears. Well, that was the life that was bestowed upon her, and she would take whatever came her way. Hmph. She'd show Inuyasha that she wasn't a weak human. And then she'd gloat and say 'sit' for many times without reason. That thought alone made her smile, wipe the tears away, and start packing her belongings. And everything else.

------------

Inuyasha was panting, but had a huge grin on his face. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he told her that he was going to the same school she was. At the moment, he was standing in front of the well, hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath. Damn breath - it was hard to catch. If he ever found it in the flesh, he'd give it a hard whack with the Testusaiga...

Breathing better after about five minutes, he jumped in the well, the little satin pouch clutched tightly in his hand.

Once through the well, he realized that he needed clothes that weren't bright red and fire-proof. He saw a guy about his height and stature on the side of the road, knocked him out from behind, and stole the guy's clothes, leaving the poor unconscious boy in a dark alleyway where he wouldn't be discovered for a few hours. Inuyasha snickered. Getting away with mugging a random person on the street was an old, never-satisfied bliss. And the best part was he wouldn't be thrown head-first into the rather hard, black ground.

Hehe. Maybe he should've snuck into Kagome's time more often. He just hoped that no one would notice a weird red outfit hidden under a relatively empty trashcan.

He walked a little ways along the road, making sure that no one saw the pouch that contained the necklace. Then he stopped a lady who looked like she knew where she was going so well that she didn't even pay attention to her whereabouts. The kind of person who just spaced out and let her feet carry her where she was supposed to go.

"Oi, uh, ma'am? Is there somewhere where I can sell a necklace for some money?"

"Hai. There's a pawn shop over on the next street. I don't even need to give you directions. The oldest looking shop in the middle of the street. You can't miss it. Unless you're blind, of course..." She looked curiously at his oddly colored eyes. "Are those real?"

Noticing where she was looking, and realizing that she would only ask if there was a chance that they weren't, he told her iie, and set off for the shop.

------------

Kagome was just packing her underwear when Inuyasha burst through the door to her bedroom, a huge grin on his face. "Wench! You'll never guess what... oi, what are those?"

Kagome felt her cheeks color and, in mortification, yelled, "Osuwari!"

"Owwwww... what was that for?"

"Nothing. Learn to knock from now on."

"Hai, whatever," he said, peeling himself from her floor. "Anyway, I got some money, not telling you how, but it's so I can go to that school with you!" Noticing her stern glare, he added, "I didn't steal it, or anything." Not really.

Her expression lightened considerably, and she actually smiled at him. The look on her face is priceless, he thought. If only I could bottle it up, I wouldn't need to ask Sesshoumaru for money anymore! Hm... he'd have to ask Kaede about that later.

"Uh, Inuyasha? How'd you get the uniform from Yotsubadai (a/n: So I stole the name of the school from Fushigi Yuugi. Whaddya gonna do, sue me? Oh yeah, don't own FY either, by the way :P)? That's a really geeky school, and only really smart people get in it. Which you're not."

"Um... you see... there was this guy..."

"Osuwari."

------------

So Kagome looked at how much money he had and found that he had enough for five years at the school. It wasn't a very expensive school, but it did have a good reputation - that's why her mother chose it.

That night, Inuyasha was dragged out of Kagome's house and into the drug store, where they bought two bottles of black hair dye, some eye color changing contacts, and some eye drops. And a bandanna.

And then the mall, where he got two changes of clothing. "This is coming out of your money, of course," he was told.

They also got some ramen, which was paid by Inuyasha, of course. "I'm not buying anything else!!" He yelled, before paying for a bracelet on pain of an 'osuwari'.

Kagome just smiled in a rather scary way.

------------

"Hm. You don't look half-bad," Kagome commented, admiring her work. Inuyasha now looked human, with his hair dyed black, his ears (unfortunately) black also, and covered in a rolled up bandanna. It had taken two times of dyeing of his hair to actually become black. The first time, it had turned a stormy gray - apparently hanyou hair resisted coloring, cause it was extra-strength dye, too. It was still soft and shiny, though. She wondered what he used to clean it.

"Hai? Well, I ain't doing this again. It hurts my ears."

"Well, you'll do this if your hair grows." It was supposed to be a smart remark, because of course hair grows.

"Once it reaches a certain length, it just stops."

"Oh. I guess you won't be, then..."

------------

The next day, Inuyasha did some heavy lifting for Kagome's neighbor, who was also moving out. She paid him rather well for it, since he carried most of her possessions quite a ways to her new apartment halfway across the city. Apparently, she couldn't afford a moving van, which was weird from the amount of money she gave Inuyasha.

And when they went back to the shrine, they watched some anime that the Higurashis had on DVD. Kagome went to bed after two episodes, but Inuyasha watched them all night. He needed all the information he could have on the modern day world. Plus the fact that they were addictive. Just like ramen.

Taking into account that Kagome was human, she woke up pretty early the next morning. About four o'clock by his estimate. She had taught him about reading time, but he used the light in the sky. It just took less time.

"What're you doing?"

"I have to catch a plane in two hours. And it'll take about that long to get a bus, check in, and stuff. Hey! They gave me two tickets! I must be really lucky. Come on, you haven't packed all your stuff yet." She threw him a duffel bag and he stuffed his purchases and, on afterthought, some food. Who knew what these tickets were for?

"Hey, um, Inuyasha? Where _are _your real clothes?"

------------

Kk! That's Chapter Two! Do you like it? Tell me!

I started jumping for joy when I found out how many reviews one of my stories generated. Then my dad walked in on me mid-jump (hey, I know it's his room, but why do people put computers with Internet access in bedrooms anyway??), looked at me funny, and asked, "Lauren? How much sugar have you had today?"

"Um... a pack of gummy worms, three scoops of ice cream, some ch -"

"Yeah. That's too much. Now go to bed."

"...Okay."

See how terribly uncreative parents can be? They always say the same thing! And they're hurting my online career (Well, I suppose writing could be called a career... right?)! Seriously.

And I know that in the little scene where Inu blackmails Sesshoumaru, he acts all weird and formal. Well, he's acting like the half-brother of Sesshoumaru should act. So the servants won't gossip. And I think he likes acting once in a while... ;)

Ja for now!


	3. Part Three

Away From The Well

Chapter Three

by KikyouCommitsSuicide

Disclaimer: Santa was supposed to give me Inuyasha for Halloween, but then I remembered that he gave things on Christmas. So I forgave him when he didn't give me our favorite hanyou for Halloween. But not for Christmas? Unforgivable. And all I got was some nasty-tasting black stuff that got my face all sooty and gross. How unfair is that?!

I also got some marshmallows, but that was from my sister. And she just pulled them out of the bag and squished them in my hair. Grody. So I poured vanilla Coke into her hair and we ended up having to buy two more bottles of shampoo. And we were grounded. But it was worth it, ne?

Author's note: Yeah, my parents really did give me coals for Christmas once. But it was only to stall because two days later my computer came in the mail (I was so excited I started hyperventilating and my mom had to give me some of her asthma medicine. I'm a computer geek, what can I say?). Apparently a snowstorm had delayed it. Or so they say. Who can trust the corporate cogs these days? And the part about the marshmallows is completely untrue. But it is kinda fun to think about, ne? Marshmallows and Coke - mmmm...

I'm a sugar-holic (??), in case you didn't know. :p

------------

Kagome and Inuyasha walked into the airport hand-in-hand, but only so he wouldn't get lost. Indeed, when they walked through the sliding doors, his eyes became as round as was possible for an Oriental person (a/n: In manga, they never look Oriental! What's up with that? Do they like Western civilization THAT much??). He stayed close by her, though. The only time she had trouble keeping him on course was when he spotted a buffet with ramen. He started drooling, which was more than a little nasty, and the janitor gave them a very dirty look (a/n: No pun intended...) before moving to clean it up.

Elderly people looked at their hands and gave murmurs and grunts of disapproval at the public display of affection. Inuyasha had no idea what they were disapproving of, and instantly thought of his ears. He growled instinctively at them, and Kagome started dragging him faster. He didn't mind - anything to get away from these bakas.

After getting lost twice, they reached the terminal with only ten minutes to spare - the customs were really thorough these days, and Kagome had to put Tetsusaiga in her big luggage bag. She just hoped that Inuyasha wouldn't get mad at anything.

------------

"Oi, wench, what's this big metal thing?" Inuyasha asked, showing her his unbuckled belt. "It's weird-looking. What's it for, anyway?"

"It's your belt. You put the two pieces together like this," she said, buckling her own.

"Hai, but what's it _for_?" He asked, finally managing to fasten his seatbelt.

"In case the plane crashes or jolts, we want safety."

"...Oh." He had no idea what that meant, but apparently he was supposed to leave it on. But it hurt. Inuyasha growled inaudibly at it, and, receiving no response, loosened it as far as it would go. Hmph. That'd show it.

The flight attendants did their annoying little demonstration in Japanese and English, moving in exaggerated motions so that they looked like the models on TV. Inuyasha looked at Kagome questioningly, noticing that she understood the English version. "What're they saying?"

Kagome turned slowly to him. "Don't you know English?"

"English? What's that?"

Oh, no. Now that she thought about it, it wouldn't make sense for him to know English, but that didn't help. How was he going to learn? "It... it's like another set of words that mean the same thing but don't sound the same. Like... nani is 'what' in English."

"...Oh. Well, why'd someone talk like that, anyway? The old set is so much easier."

"Well, different people learn different sets of words. They're called languages. Don't youkai have a different language than humans?"

"Yeah. I guess it isn't different... but what's the point of learning English?"

Actually, he had a point, even though he didn't mean it that way. Maybe he could pose as an exchange student who came from a very secluded place in Japan and never learned English. And then, people wouldn't hear his questions and ask their own.

"Hmmm... maybe you don't have to. Hey! There's an American movie that I've wanted to see. It's called Texas Chainsaw Massacre (a/n: Nope, don't own this either. It's a real movie though - and REALLY scary/gross. Mostly gross). And it has Japanese subtitles. Wanna see it?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Hai, but... what're subtitles?"

-------------

When the movie finished, Kagome was weeping. "I can't believe all the main characters died. And the bad guy won. And it's a real, true story!"

Inuyasha looked alarmed. "But you were telling me the whole time that it _wasn't _real!"

"I know, but at the end, it said that it was based on a true story. And the police parts, with the bad picture, that was real."

Her traveling companion's eyes were wide. "Where is Texas?"

"In America."

"Isn't that where we're going?!"

"Not THAT part of America. Don't worry - he won't get us."

"Damn, that guy could probably use a blow from Tetsusaiga, too."

----------

When they got off the plane, Inuyasha was sick with hunger - those little plastic-tasting things they had served on the plane didn't look or taste like a meal, so he hadn't eaten it. Big mistake - the flight was about 20 hours, and they had yelled at him when .

So as soon as he spotted one of those stores that had things that looked very sugary and non-nutritious, Kagome advised him on what to get, and he got as much of it as he could - Juicyfruit gum, Peanut, Crunchy, and Regular M&Ms, Skittles, a Twix bar, Lifesavers, some pecans and two bottles of water to wash it all down. They went to the McDonalds, sat at a table, and ate some. It tasted like an angel had come down and blessed them with food from above. But since it was candy, it's true, isn't it?

Kagome wasn't very sure how they'd know how to get to the school itself, so they just stayed in the airport, occasionally walking around or reading magazines to the chagrin of the clerks.

There even was a mini-bookstore where Kagome bought Inuyasha a book in Japanese - it was called 'Learn English in Two Weeks or Less!'. She thought it might help him, and bought herself a book in English called The Princess Diaries (a/n: Kami, do I even have to say this? I don't own PD either!), which looked like it was full of slang, to brush up on her conversational English.

They were reading their respective books at yet another table when a short man came over to it. "Are you Miss Higurashi?" He asked.

"Well, who's asking?"

"I'm from the school you are going to now. It seems that you didn't get the message that we were supposed to have flown together - you got my ticket by accident. It's alright, we won't charge you for it, it's just that I have our ride." With that, he whipped out a cell phone and began dialing.

Inuyasha looked on with equal parts of confusion, apprehension, and amusement at the man's funny appearance - he was short and fat and his complexion made him look like he had never been outside in his life. He was wearing a tweed suit that looked to be about two sizes too small - the buttons looked about ready to pop right off if you poked him.

"Okay, the car has been waiting outside for a while, so we can just go outside. Do you have your baggage? Good. Now come on. ...Hey, who're you?" He asked Inuyasha when he got up to follow him, too.

"He's my... cousin. He doesn't speak any English, because he grew up in a very secluded part of Japan, and his parents died, so he was living with us. No one knew because he was only living with us for a few days before the accident..." She trailed off in tears, to make it seem more believable, then sniffed. "He has enough tuition to pay for it, and he can just go to the same classes as me - I take notes in Japanese anyway."

"All right... but you'll have to work with the teachers for tests for him..." the man said doubtfully. Then he brightened up. "Come on, chop chop! I don't think you've eaten very much in the last day or so, so I have food in the car. Let's go!"

And so they went just outside of JFK, where a silver Dodge Caravan waited. There was a TV and some anime DVDs. "I asked the students to borrow a few," he explained. "Oh, yes, I've never properly introduced myself. My name is David Ytskovskya. You can call me Mr. Y, since no one can properly pronounce my last name (a/n: I actually know a girl called Ana Ytskovskya. I can pronounce it, too! ...Just not spell it right :/). Oh yes, and there's a cooler between the two middle seats."

The movies were in English, so Inuyasha went back to reading his book and eating after a while. The pictures were pretty cool, but you could only get so much without the words.

------------

"All right! We're here! Welcome to Darrow (a/n: It's a real boarding school in New Lebanon, NY and it sounds cool! I don't know what it looks like, so I made it like my old private school. I LOVED that place - it's called the Master's School. :( I miss it so much...)!"

Kagome and Inuyasha both got out of the car (Inuyasha with some difficulty, as he sat in the far back and had to jump over the seat in front of him), to see their home for the next... well, undetermined while.

"Wow. It looks swank," Inuyasha commented.

'Swank' didn't really apply. It looked nice, but rather middle-class. There were several buildings made of dark, weathered wood, and there were stone pathways that crisscrossed across the grounds. Since it was New England, there was a constant green light and if you looked above, you wouldn't see any blue, but lime-green leaves that sunrays shot through. There might've been many more buildings, but the trees blocked them from sight.

"What did he say? Oh, never mind. This building," he said, pointing to the farthest one to the left, "is the Girls Dorm. And that one," pointing to the farthest building to the right, "is the Boys Dorm. The one in the middle, the large one with the high roof, is the Dining Hall. We go there for meals. Your classes will be in various other buildings. Emily! Emily Hemmings! Can you show these new students around? Thank you." And the man left, scurrying to another building. Kagome assumed that that was the office building.

"Hi. I'm Kagome and this is my cousin Inuyasha. We're from Japan." Best to keep it simple, unless her stories start contradicting each other. Man, she'd seen that dilemma occur not only in real life, but so many movies were made about that, it was scary.

"Oh, hi. I'm Emily. You can call me Em. Um... let me see your schedule." Kagome promptly handed the piece of paper that she had been given by Dav - uh, Mr. Y to her. "Oh good! You have almost every class with me, including the first and the last. Well, since there aren't many students here, I can set someone up to take you from one class to the next - but only people who have the same class with you."

Then they started walking somewhere and she started babbling about teachers and how strict/lenient they were, and which good teachers and bad teachers she had gotten. Kagome didn't really pay attention. But then Em leaned forward as if to impart a serious secret, and she listened for a little while.

"Oh! And here's a little piece of advice: don't go near Kati Shae. She's really violent - and you don't want to get on her bad side. The easiest way to do that is to just avoid her. But don't let her know you're avoiding her. 'Kay?"

Kagome nodded and went back to admiring the scenery as they passed it, and Inuyasha looked like his brain had gone on vacation at the moment.

"Okay! Here's your dorm, Kagome. I would show Inuyasha his, but girls aren't allowed in the Boys Dorm, and I don't want him just wandering around. The boys here are brutal. Technically, boys aren't allowed in the Girl's Dorm, either, but I think they'll make an exception this time. After all, it's not like we walk around in bras." Em's eyes went wide and she looked at Inuyasha apprehensively, who looked back at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Um... what're you looking at Inu for?" Oops, she'd called him Inu. Oh, he was going to kill her. Good thing the rosary was still on...

"Well... we... sometimes... ah..."

"You _do _walk around in your underwear?" Kagome laughed. "Don't worry, I'll keep him in my room while he's here. And he has no idea what you just said, because he only knows a few words of English. Am I sharing the room with anyone?"

"Um... me..." Clearly, she was still embarrassed. "Are you _sure _he didn't hear?"

"Even if he did understand, which would be amazing, since he only started learning English a few hours ago, he was raised in the sticks. I don't even think women _wore _bras where he grew up."

"Oh. Um... over here's your bed and there's the bureau, and the closet..."

------------

Inuyasha sat on one of the beds, his chin in his hand. Kami, this was boring. The other girl was showing Kagome around the room, and they had locked the door. And ever since the girl had been looking at him with something akin to fear (ah, he was feared even in the distant future, and far away), they had completely ignored him (or maybe he was just weird-looking. He'd _told _Kagome not to dye his hair...).

Kagome said something to the girl, and she left. "Come on, Inuyasha, help me unpack."

"Awww do I have to? Can't I just go outside and wait out there?"

"Um, the girls tend to walk around in their underwear because this _is _the Girls Dorm, and you're not supposed to be here at all. So... iie."

"Whatever. I'm just gonna be reading my book."

"Fine. You do that."

------------

Yay! Another chapter out of the way! And guess what? I have my whole outline here. There ain't much of a plot... I suppose... but it's some crap to read while you're bored!

Just so you know, I have to type this in secret from now on. My mom is furious at me for exceeding my two hour time limit. I mean seriously. What the heck? I only get an hour on the Internet and an hour to type a chapter. Hey. Even I'm not that gifted!

So if it ends up being weird, tell me. And preferably how to fix it, or a suggestion, or something. I'm not superhuman or anything.

------------

Recommendation:

"2004 Dorei Youkai Tokyo" by Midoriko-sama

This is a really great fanfiction - it isn't done yet, but it's l-o-n-g and good. And I'd suggest reading the intro by her, too, cause I was _really _confused when I just started reading it. I figured it out after a chapter or so, but it was only _after _I'd read the 20 chapters did I find there was an Intro. Kami, I have problems sometimes.

------------

Oh, and by the way, 'kami' means god or goddess, depending on the context. ;)

Ja ne!


	4. Part Four

Away From The Well  
Chapter Four

by KikyouCommitsSuicide

Disclaimer: If I had a djinni (or genie, whichever you prefer) and I was granted three wishes, my first wish would be that I'm rich, so I can pay off these damn bills. My second wish would be for Inuyasha to be real. My third wish would be to set the djinni free, so he'd serve me in gratitude the rest of my life. ;) Hm... maybe Inu, too...

J

Author's note: Wow! It's my birthday today (well, it's only been my birthday for two minutes, but play along here)! So give me a present and review! I'm eating Nerds right now. You know, the little sour candy. I've eaten (well, really, sucked. I like to suck on Nerds. They're so SOUR...) so many that my tongue is starting to sting...

Ooooh, Mom's gonna kill me when she finds out I was up this late... But then again, it's my birthday!

------------

Kagome sighed as she put away her clothes. When she had gone to the administrative office to ask what to do with Inuyasha, they didn't know. It wasn't right to stick him into a mob of foreign boys when he didn't even know English. So, believing the story that Inuyasha was her cousin, they'd put her into a hut with him. There was a small common room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. They'd asked permission, of course, but there was no alternative, really, since they were the only ones who spoke Japanese besides the one Japanese teacher, and she only came every other day to campus.

He was, of course, learning English, and once in a while, would have a short, stilted conversation to test out his abilities. She was rather amazed at how quickly he learned the new language - it had taken her years what he was doing in days. Maybe it was because he had nothing better to do than read through quite a few Japanese textbooks that he had gotten from the library to learn English with. Once in a while, she wondered how much he actually knew, because the whole day, he just shadowed her, listening to her conversations and talking to her, and her alone.

Em even joked once that 'He follows you around like a dog', which had quite startled Kagome. And, though no one saw, Inuyasha, too.

In class, she got many notes from people - being the new girl, she was a curiosity to the girls, and, being far from ugly, she was an object of attraction to the guys. Not that they would say so anywhere but their notes, because Inuyasha could somehow tell who was interested in her, and shot them looks that could kill - and sometimes probably did.

Back at the dorm, they were the hot topic of everyone.

Even the guys.

"Whoa. He's, like, _way _too overprotective. You'd think she was, like, his daughter, or something."

"Or maybe his girlfriend."

"Urgh! But they're cousins, man!"

"But they're living together! Even in school! Maybe they're... married cause they... threatened a priest to perform the ceremony, or something! And the reason they came here was so that her mother/his aunt could raise their triplets in peace."

"Yeah! And then the priest started to tell someone that he had married, and he died of mysterious circumstances..."

"And... and they're not really cousins! They're both from rich families and it was an arranged marriage, but they didn't want that, so they eloped and got married in America!"

"Yeah!"

"That's, like, so romantic, it's practically from a romance novel, dude!"

"Totally."

------------

And so suddenly, the guys stopped asking Kagome out, much to her surprise, and, she hated to admit, chagrin. What, did she get a pimple, or something?

"Hey, Inuyasha? Do I look any different from a week ago?"

"Uh, iie. Why?"

"Oh, I dunno."

"Whatever." And he returned to his book. With his book to constantly read and memorize, or, as she liked to say, mesmerize, he hadn't even needed Tetsusaiga. Maybe the scholar in him was struggling to emerge.

Or he just needed something mindless to do to take his mind off whatever was bothering him.

------------

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice said, rather gruffly. "Can I sit here?"

Normally at lunch, Kagome sat with only Inuyasha and Em, so there were plenty of free seats. Without even looking up from her Science textbook, in which there was a test next period, she said, "Sure".

The normal school tray slid in next to her, and a delicate-looking brown-haired girl with gray eyes unceremoniously plopped down next to her. Inuyasha looked up from his book for a moment, then returned to it. A girl wasn't worth his attention when he could be eavesdropping on everyone. "Yo. I'm Kati. Kati Shae. Who're you?"

Her name seems familiar, Kagome thought. Where had she heard it before?

"I'm Kagome Higurashi, and this is my cousin, Inuyasha. We're from Japan."

"Oh. So you're the new kids." Her rough voice didn't really fit her very feminine appearance. Noticing her look, Kati said, "Yeah, I know. My voice doesn't sound like it should belong to me. I would dye my hair a vivid blue and wear heavy black eyeliner, but then my mom would kill me and I'd have to go to public school. Damn conservationist."

She really looked like she would, too. And if you did dye her hair and put heavy black eyeliner on her, she'd look right at home leaning on a motorcycle, making out with a guy in a leather jacket in a dark alley.

But then again, wouldn't anyone?

Em's nervous glances at Kati suddenly made Kagome remember who she was.

'And here's a little piece of advice: don't go near Kati Shae. She's really violent...'

Oops.

Kati looked at her mortified face with amusement. "Suddenly remember my rep, huh?"

"Uhm..."

"That's okay, I know what they say about me. But I like you. Dunno why. But don't worry - I won't be too violent around you. Especially with him," she consoled Kagome, glancing at Inuyasha. "You don't look like cousins - is that just a story?"

How could she just see through that? "Um, no, we're not really cousins. But don't tell anyone, okay?"

"So what are you, then, lovers?"

"No..."

"Is he taken?"

"Uhm..."

"Good. Then he's mine."

Oh, dear. What if Inuyasha understood? From the impassive look on his face, she didn't think so. He was reading his book. Just as usual.

------------

"So what was with that girl? She was smirking at you, and you looked pretty uncomfortable," Inuyasha commented on their way back to their mini-dorm. "What were you talking about? Anything interesting?"

'Hmmm... well, you're interesting,' Kagome thought. "Iie. She was just saying that she didn't like her parents, and I thought about how terrible that was."

"Oh."

"Hey...?"

"Nani?"

"Sit." Nothing happened. "Osuwari." Inuyasha plummeted to the ground. "Hmm... it doesn't work in English. Interesting."

"OWWW!" Inuyasha yelled, and two girls came running out of the shadows to help him up. Had they been spying on him?

"Daishobu?" Kagome asked quickly. "Sorry," she said to the girls. "He must've tripped on something." They nodded and started walking the other way, but not without a second glance at the handsome boy on the ground.

"Kami, looks like you've got yourselves some stalkers," Kagome joked as she pulled him up. "Lucky you."

"Hai, and you must be pretty lucky, too, with all those notes that guys give you."

"You know about those?" Kagome asked, mortified. "Did you read them?" 'They kinda contained really personal things...'

"Uh... iie, but I wanted to. Those guys shouldn't be asking you to be their mate all the time. It isn't right. They don't even know you! Are people in this time all like Kouga? Is that why you put up with him??"

"They don't ask me to be their mate!" Kagome protested, her face turning red. She wasn't yelling, but soon she'd be saying the word again.

"Then what, do they ask you to help them with their Japanese?"

"Actually, some of them did!"

"Feh. And I'll bet you did help them, too. You're too charitable, Kagome! It's gonna get you in trouble." Then he wouldn't say anything else.

'Is he... jealous of all the attention I get? Hmmm... that sounds familiar...' (a/n: She said this to herself in volume 14 after the Kouga incident. Maybe other times, too. I actually haven't read all of them yet. I'm so ashamed.)

-----------

Yeah, I know, it's shorter than the other chapters, but my hands (not to mention my brain) are hurting from typing all this. Anyway, I need to get ready for my grandmother - she's coming over. She's sort of the words 'prissy' and 'pissy' melded together and taken (partially) human form. She's a real trip to be related to. Oh, joy. Oh, rapture. Oh, kami, save me from her wrath!!!!

Recomendation:

"When You Love Someone"

It's a tiny Rin x Sesshy-chan fic. It's a finished one.

If you want me to recomend your fic, tell me so in your review! I'll read it and see if I should! Unfortunately, I don't know who wrote most of these because I only have 20 minutes online, so I cut and paste the stories onto Word and save it by the name. So the name's right at least.

Hmm. Nothing really else to say. But if you don't know the Japanese words, I'll start putting the definitions in parentheses. Kk, minna-san, toodles!

Or should I say:

Ja ne!

(Hey, that rhymed!! )


	5. Part Five

Away From The Well

Chapter 5

by KikyouCommitsSuicide

Disclaimer: Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved Inuyasha. She loved it so much that she went online and wrote a story called Away From The Well about it. Then the girl logged off, crying because she didn't own it - Takahashi-sensei does.

Author's note: I know the last chapter was kinda short, and it's been a long time since I last updated. You'll never guess why. I was in a car accident - ON MY BIRTHDAY. Now I have partial amnesia (or whatever you call it) and my right hand is all mangled and cut up. Of course I have to be the one most hurt by the accident. And I don't remember a thing about it, either. Kami. How annoying.

Anyway, my point is that this will probably be short too, seeing as I can only type with one hand... --

------------

"Kagome, can you lend me your cousin? I wanna %$# him again..." Kati said with a smirk. She had absolutely no reservations about asking Kagome to lend Inuyasha to her to be her boy toy (yup, it's actually a word. Looked it up myself). Actually, she did it on an hourly basis... or at least a daily one. Oh, someday Inuyasha would understand her and she'd be mortified... but she just couldn't tell him. It was all in good fun, but for some reason she just froze up when she tried to tell him. Why? She had no idea. It wasn't even something big.

"Sure," Kagome replied with a smirk of her own. "How long do you want him for? Because I'm kind of on a tight schedule and all..."

"Oh, yeah, finals, like, _totally _blow," Kati said in a mock-preppy voice. "But I'll be sure to have him home before it gets too late..."

Em, who was still not sure if this was a joke or not because neither of them had actually come out and said so, started concentrating intently on her chicken nuggets, which weren't too bad for cafeteria food.

Inuyasha, of course, wasn't listening, but rather glaring at a passage in English, trying to threaten it into making sense. For some reason, even his Sesshoumaru glare wasn't working on the damn marks.

He uttered a string of colorful curses at the passage, but it still wouldn't make sense. "Chikusho," he muttered at it. Then, his traditional way of asserting his supremacy not working, he proceeded to translate it, word by word.

No one, of course, heard him. Kagome and that weird-looking new girl were deep in a humorous conversation, and the girl from her dorm was studying her lunch as if she knew that she had nothing interesting to contribute. Pathetic.

"My god, she's selling Inuyasha?!" An overly exited voice squealed seemingly from right behind her. Kagome had no idea what in seven Hells this girl was talking about. Then, she figured that it must have something to do with Kati's conversation.

"Oooh, now's our chance! $20!"

"$30!"

"$32.72!!"

"Damn, I only have $10!"

A whole swarm of eager girls materialized behind her. They were so loud he even looked up to see what was going on. To his alarm, he couldn't even see Kagome - the mob had swallowed her up.

He tranquilly returned to his book. It was not his problem.

------------

Two days and three re-readings of the book later, Inuyasha triumphantly slammed the book down and yelled to her in English. "Kagome! I need to talk to you!!"

"Good, you finally learned English. Now I won't be forced to take notes in Japanese and English."

"Why do you have to take notes in English, too?"

"Because my teachers check them every once in a while. You know, to make sure that we're actually taking notes. But if it's in Japanese, they don't know if I'm rewriting The Tales of Genki, writing in my diary, or actually taking notes."

"Oh." What was this obsession people had in her time of checking everything about eighty times? Didn't they trust anyone? "Well, anyway, now that I don't need you as a translator, we can stop sleeping in this little shack. I even liked Kaede's hut better than this. And that's saying something."

"Oh. Okay."

"What? I'm dying to be with someone other than you! You're not a bad person Kagome, but I need to talk to other people! Even Miroku! Even... Shippou!!"

Wow. If Inuyasha wanted to hang out with a hentai houshi and a kitsune, he must REALLY be wanting for company. Wait...

"I'm not a bad person?" She asked in a fakely innocent way. Oh no. She was going to do something to him. What, he didn't know. But something she would no doubt regret... someday, anyway.

"Ummm... iie?" He asked tentatively, reverting back to Japanese because he was so uncomfortable. Why couldn't she just _tell_ him what he said??

"Awww!" She said in a manner that if you hadn't heard the rest of the conversation, you would've though she saw something immensely cute and went to hug it. And she hugged him, too. "That's the nicest thing you said to me in a long time... if not in the entire time I've known you!"

Inuyasha, who, of course, hadn't been able to decipher the stream of unintelligible English babble emitting from her mouth, but not wanting her to know it (after all, he had just told her that he had learned English!), patted her lightly on the back. "Hai, hai."

------------

"So, man," a blond boy said excitedly to Inuyasha. "We know you're not her cousin. So what's _really _going on with you guys?"

Inuyasha looked skeptically at the person beside him, who was panting. He was, at the moment, running laps in PE, and everyone knew that he now spoke English - if only a little. Now everyone was bugging him about... well... something. He honestly didn't want to go through all the trouble of translating the extremely quickly spoken words. Nor did he care.

He noticed that mostly people asked him yes or no questions, so he said, "Yes," and pulled ahead of the annoying kid. How dare he ask him questions (Inuyasha's more like Sesshy-chan than we thought )?? It was at times like this that he envied his brother for having Jaken around. He was so lucky to have someone who worshipped the ground he walked on. And someone who could ward off annoying pests like these human boys.

------------

I know, I know, it's about half the length it should be! But I did warn you... and my hand hurts so much I need to get another Advil... did the quality of those go down or something??

Immortal Rain is soooo great!! I totally love it! I just got number 1 and 2 from Borders! Hehe, my mom paid for half of it, too! I think she did that cause I didn't want her there, though. She wouldn't let me go with my friends because of my hand! Doesn't she know I'm ambidexterous?! Hmph. Foolish human.

Reccomendation:

"City of Tomorrow's Memories"

It takes place in modern day, so it's like alternate reality. I know a lot of people prefer InuKag fics, but this one's a SessKag. I just love weird but well-written ideas! Hey, if anyone has or has read a good MirKag fic, tell me!

Or a KouKag fic, for that matter. I've been searching for one, but I can't find a good one...

I draw the line at NarKag, though. Let him have Kikyou (damn that %&$!).

I'm off to read my new manga... AGAIN! I love Rollitos!!

Ja ne, minna-san!!


End file.
